"Slumming it..." and other sayings

My Mrs asked me to look up something on Victorian housing in London for a lecture she's preparing. I came across this Wiki page which is an easy read about the boom in house building in the Victorian years resulting from increased wealth, the industrial revolution a general movement from rural areas into the bigger cities. If you think you might be interested, I recommend it:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victorian_house

But I was prompted to post this having seen this fascinating item on another website which refers to how the term 'slumming it' came to be. Bear in mind that the great middle class only began to develop in Victorian times; initially you were wealthy or poor.

...a surprising aspect of society in the late 1800’s is that the wealthy upper class had their own curiosities about how the poor lower class lived. They would actually put on their “common clothes” and go down to the slums for sight seeing trips. “Slumming” became the name for this form of tourism. Many of the upper class men and women alike would disguise themselves in lower class clothing and head to the slums for a night or two to indulge in the guilty pleasures that could be found in the streets and boarding houses of the slums.

For further really interesting reading on how the poor in Victorian times lived, try this one:

http://victorianchildren.org/victori...torians-lived/

Got carried away, I meant to end by asking what other sayings in common use today have interesting origins? eg "Saved by the bell" and so on

I think it's common knowledge but "back to square one" originated on the radio during the 1927 FA Cup final!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/7328650.stm

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Originally Posted by Cowbridge Blue

Got carried away, I meant to end by asking what other sayings in common use today have interesting origins? eg "Saved by the bell" and so on

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Bethlem Royal Hospital, London hospital first to specialise in the mentally ill and origin of the word "bedlam" describing chaos or madness

The popular term "football" is derived from the fact that the famous sport utilises a "ball" and that it is played around a field using only the "feet".

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Originally Posted by Cowbridge Blue

.. Bear in mind that the great middle class only began to develop in Victorian times; initially you were wealthy or poor.

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... and back we go again ..

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Originally Posted by Colonel Cærdiffi

The popular term "football" is derived from the fact that the famous sport utilises a "ball" and that it is played around a field using only the "feet".

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The original name for polo was 'horse-play'.

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Originally Posted by Colonel Cærdiffi

The popular term "football" is derived from the fact that the famous sport utilises a "ball" and that it is played around a field using only the "feet".

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So why isn't it called 'feetball'?

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Originally Posted by Taunton Blue Genie

So why isn't it called 'feetball'?

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Hey, yous a real jerkoff buddy, you know that? Go back to Long Island.

"They think it's all over" is a popular phrase that originated from a BBC programme of the same name.

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Originally Posted by Colonel Cærdiffi

The popular term "football" is derived from the fact that the famous sport utilises a "ball" and that it is played around a field using only the "feet".

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Another interesting thread ruined by a painfully unfunny joke :thumbup:

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Originally Posted by Croesy Blue

Another interesting thread ruined by a painfully unfunny joke :thumbup:

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Surely I win 1st place? :sherlock:

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Originally Posted by Croesy Blue

Another interesting thread ruined by a painfully unfunny joke :thumbup:

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Don't worry, you're not the first Croesy unable to recognise top-drawer stand up when you see it. It's understandable, that level of prime jocularity can be overwhelming to the senses.

It's why they call me the Archbishop of Banterbury but to be honest, it's more of a curse than a gift sometimes.